Foliage of Autumn

View Original

A gift to celebrate

My oh my, what an exciting week we have had thus far. Two birthdays in our family fall in this the sweltering week of July, my dearest mother, and our littlest child “E’s” very first birthday. We have partaken in a trip to the countryside to slash in the cool water of a winding river, walked under the shade of ancient, bankside trees, and worked enthusiastically on handmade gifts to commemorate the day.

Reflecting on the early years of my motherhood, I would be in such a frightful state to accomplish ALL the birthday related duties and I would often be left exhausted by the celebrations end. The guest list would be longer, the “perfect” gift would be selected, the homemade cake MUST be both delicious and aesthetically pleasing, and the decorations had to match my child’s requested theme. Nothing ever went according to my plan (much to my children’s oblivion), and I would collapse exhausted into the welcoming sofa at the end of the day and wonder, “Did I do enough?”

Thankfully, as the effervescent seasons have vapored one into the another, God has revealed to me, like the sweet fragrance of this wonderous summer, the grace that I must envelop myself in in order to be the present mother I wanted so desperately to be during these celebrations. Present in the sense that I didn’t want to just orchestrate the party, I wanted to immerse myself in the melodies of the day with my children. When asked to play I wanted to be able to echo a resounding, “Yes!”, without the hesitation of an internal checklist reminding me that I had too much to do to sit down and enjoying anything.

Nowadays, if you could peek inside our humble home and glimpse one of our magnificently ordinary birthday celebrations you wouldn’t find a house stuffed with guests, the perfectly adorned birthday cake, although it will still be homemade (and delicious), nor would you find extravagantly done decorations, we keep things simple now. The “perfect” gift is likely either handmade or heartfelt, but most importantly, I will be found merely sitting on the floor, playing a game of chess, or perhaps outside blowing bubbles under the wonder filled eyes of the children. We sit and chat now and there is a mystical element to the party that I never knew could exist simultaneously with a well-planned celebration, their mother’s joy, as well as their own.

I encourage you to take time to be gentle with yourself amongst these busy days of “little years” and make sure you are enjoying them as well, because just as your children only get one, magical childhood, you only get to be a part of it once. The following well-known quote can perhaps be made the most tangible as you gaze across the table and watch that sweet child breathe out another year’s birthday candles atop that gloriously, imperfect cake:

"The days are long, but the years are short." - Gretchen Rubin